Nestlé Toll House Café by Chip is locating its first two Canadian dessert cafes in Metro Vancouver. The first opened last week at Surrey’s Guildford Town Centre; the second will open at New Westminster’s Plaza 88.
“That’s it for Vancouver at the moment, but we’re placing a lot of marketing emphasis in Vancouver in the next quarter,” said Ted Milburn, the Dallas-based company’s vice-president of franchise development.
Within the next five years, however, Milburn expects to have up to 15 locations in Metro Vancouver selling products such as cookies, cakes, coffee and smoothies.
He told Business in Vancouver December 21 that the company operates nearly 100 cafes south of the border and is set to pass that milestone in the next couple months with new stores in:
- New York State;
- Florida; and
- California.
Milburn is aware of Vancouver’s reputation for being more health-conscious than most North American cities, but believes the demographics are similar enough to U.S. cities where the brand has been successful that it can duplicate that success.
Nestlé Toll House Café by Chip has exclusive rights to use products from Swiss food giant Nestlé S.A. but Milburn said it is not owned by that multinational.
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom